PASADENA — The Muir High School girls basketball team exceeded expectations this year, what with key players not available in the tailend of the Mustangs’ season.

It was only a matter of time until Muir’s lack of depth would become an issue. That day finally came Wednesday as the Mustangs couldn’t keep up with St. Bernard, losing 67-49 in the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA playoffs.

Muir (27-4) won the Pacific League championship despite at times having no more than two players on the bench. But even a full bench might not have made a difference against a more skilled St. Bernard (23-7), which overwhelemed the Mustangs with its full-court press and aggressiveness on the glass.

While Muir shot a woeful 30 percent in the game that ultimately led to its demise, it was the last thing on player’s mind at game’s end, which came with 1:35 left in the game.

Muir senior Tahniya Sweatt, who finished with 10 points, suffered a neck injury after going for a loose ball. It’s uncertain whether her momentum going after the loose ball had her crashing against the first row of the bleachers or if she was pushed out of bounds. Fans in the front row were adament that she was deliberately pushed out of bounds, but Muir coach Gary Johnson said he did not believe it was intentional. The game was halted for a few minutes before it was determined that an ambulance would be needed. That’s when Johnson called the game.

We will post results immediately on the new Prep Scores Results Blog as soon as coaches or representatives from teams call them in. If you look at the Star-News prep sports page, you’ll see the blog in the top right corner which will be updated throughout the evening as soon as results are called in or emailed to us. You can call in results to 626-962-8811, ext. 2233, 2242 or email results to scores@sgvn.com.

PASADENA — It wasn’t exactly shock and awe, but the Pasadena High School boys basketball team came close to it.
With precision, speed and execution, the second-seeded Bulldogs blitzed Bonita in the first quarter to end on a 15-3 run, en route to a 64-50 win Tuesday night in the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AAA playoffs.

Pasadena (22-7) will host Beverly Hills (20-9) in Friday’s semifinals at Muir.
Bonita (25-5) had no answer for the Bulldogs in the first quarter, succumbing to their pressure that resulted in nine first-quarter turnovers. The Bearcats finished with 19 turnovers.

Pasadena led 22-7 after the first, and although Bonita, which trailed by as many as 19, made a valiant second-half run it never closed the gap under 10.

“The first five minutes we sort of got blitzed,” Bonita coach Greg Eckler said. “It was just too late before we found ourselves. I wish we had back those first five minutes.”

Pasadena coach Tim Tucker scouted Bonita two weeks before the season ended, knowing well that the Bearcats presented a challenge with their deft perimeter shooting, led by Matt Adamo’s 14 points. Brandon Ko proved tenacious for the Bearcats, finishing with 13 points, six assists and five rebounds. The Bulldogs reversed roles, this time getting off to a strong start before complacency ensued in the second half.

“I didn’t want (Bonita) on my side of the bracket,” Tucker said. “This is the game I pointed that was scary to me, and they prove dit. When we could have knocked them out early we didn’t. I thought we just outlasted them. I don’t think we did anything great down the stretch.”

Blake Hamilton accentuated the Bulldogs’ speed with two fastbreak dunks to finish with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds along with three blocks and three steals. Sophomore point guard Ajon Efferson led the way for Pasadena with a game-high 18 points and three assists.

The Bulldogs shot better (42 percent on 20 of 47) than the Bearcats (36 percent on 20 of 55) but what seemingly kept Bonita in the game was its offensive rebounding edge (14-7) and ability to take the Bulldogs out of their element. Pasadena’s run-and-gun offense and easy buckets in transition was virtually nonexistent in the second half.

“We’d take quick shots and we go down the court and play defense for 25 seconds,” Tucker said. “They were making the game longer for us than we were making it for them, thus we looked real tired down the stretch.”

John Haywood’s steal and fastbreak layup with 6:06 left in the game gave Pasadena a 27-8 lead. But it was Bonita on the ensuing possession had three offensive rebounds before Bryan Mahood (12 points, 5 rebounds) hit an 8-foot jumper, much to the chagrin of Tucker, who called a timeout.

“We were standing around, making one pass and shooting the ball,” Tucker said. “Every fourth (possession) we did (run our offense) but for the most part we didn’t.”

Pasadena forward Brandon Jolley, who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, 8 assists and three steals, said the team lacked mental focus.

“We got a lead and decided to take it easy,” he said. “We were just thinking they were not a good team, and we were helping them.”

Pasadena did just enough to get by. Hamilton’s dunk on a fastbreak off a Haywood no-look pass made it 31-18 with 1:22 left in the second quarter. Jolley found Hamilton down the baseline for another dunk with 1:01 left in the game to make it 61-47.

“Every time I thought we made a run, they answered,” Eckler said. “Every time. They’d hit a three or a jumper. They’re really good.”

TORRANCE — The La Caada High School boys basketball team has had a habit of missing its fair of easy shots and turning the ball over this season. The Spartans have done their fair share of forcing opponents into the same circumstances, too.

Tuesday night, it was turnovers that finished off La Caada’s season.

The Spartans turned the ball over four times in overtime and host South scored a 59-58 victory to advance to Friday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA semifinals.

“Turnovers were critical,” La Caada coach Tom Hofman said. “We didn’t handle our composure well and we didn’t get good shots because we were running around.”

La Caada twice rallied from deficits, Darrell Dansby scoring on a backdoor layup with 14 seconds in regulation to send the quarterfinal game into overtime.

“When Darrell made the backdoor, it was great and it gave us momentum,” center Conner Boyd said. “But we just couldn’t get it together in overtime.”

The Spartans of South, the tournament’s fourth seed, scored the first basket of the extra 4-minute period, Garrett Niida on a layup.

La Caada, the tournament’s third seed, turned the ball over on two consecutive trips down the court. Gibran Sewani scored on a layup for a 55-51 South lead with 2:13 to play. Dansby, who had nine of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter, missed on a 22-footer. Both teams turned the ball over and then La Canada’s Tim Kim missed a 6-footer.

La Caada was then forced to foul and Amar Kukreja gave South a 57-51 lead with 49 seconds remaining. Kim hit two foul shots and Kukreja and Sewani made single foul shots to give South a 59-53 lead with 18 seconds remaining.

Boyd missed a desperate 3-pointer,got his own rebound and scored with 4 seconds to go to cut it to four. Kukreja stepped out of bounds on the inbounds pass and Jay Srinivasan hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

He made four 3-pointers in the game, two in the fourth quarter to rally La Caada, 17-11, from a six-point deficit.

It was not quite the offensive play Hofman wanted down the stretch.

“We didn’t do the job on offense,” Hofman said. “We tried to get it inside to Conner and we were a little too much helter-skelter. We put the ball on the ground too much too early. They weren’t setting up the way we wanted them to.”

The 6-0 deficit to start the extra period did not help, Boyd said.

“I don’t know what happened in overtime,” he said. We let them score six uncontested points and we had to try and come back from that. It’s pretty hard to do.”

It appeared as if South, 18-11, would make this a no-contest game in the opening minutes. South had six offensive rebounds in the first half, nearly all of them resulting in put-back baskets for a 14-4 lead. Hofman sent in Boyd, the son of USC basketball great Bob and the grandson of UC coach Bill Sewani, who had six points in the first quarter and 13 in the game, missed his next five shots.

“Conner did a great job defensively,” Hofman said. “He contained him very well. We could have been blown out right away.”

Dansby got La Caada with his nine first-quarter points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a 3-pointer.

La Caada could have opened a lead in the first half, but missed seven foul shots. Three South starters had three fouls
each before halftime.

“We were pressuring the ball and a lot of calls did not go our way,” South coach Leo Klemm said. “We played smart and man-to-man mostly in the second half. No gimmicks. We wanted to keep everybody in front of us.”

La Canada, which shot a surprising 64.2 percent from the floor in the first half, shot 33.3 percent in the second half.

“We had so many chances to score,” Hofman said. “We didn’t do it. It was a great season.”

LA CAADA-FLINTRIDGE — It’s usually the La Caada High School boys soccer team that keeps teams on its heels.

Mountain View flipped the script on Tuesday.

The visiting Vikings, mounting constant pressure, made a set piece and attack down the wing count in a 2-0 victory in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.

Mountain View (13-4-5) lost the coin flip and will be on the road and face the Lakeside-Paso Robles winner.

La Caada (14-6-5) bows out of the playoffs in the second round for the third consecutive season. The Spartans’ season practically came in full circle. The teams previously tied 1-1 in the season opener. In that game, the Vikings also were dominant and finished with a 23-3 advantage in shots.
Mountain View wasn’t as dominant this time, but it came close.

The attack was constant throughout and it paid dividends in the 22nd minute when Ricardo Diaz connected on a header off Alan Miranda’s free kick. Diaz, who was unmarked, connected near the goal post and caught La Caada sophomore goalkeeper Graham Labran-Boyd out of position. By the time he turned to make a save attempt it was too late.

“Just mistakes and letting kids get unmarked,” first-year La Caada coach Alex Harrison said. “(Labran-Boyd) couldn’t turn in time to get to the play, but that’s youth as well.”
The Spartans built some momentum early in the second half, but it dissipated almost as quickly as they got it going after the Vikings’ Jesus Mariscal broke free. His shot was virtually uncontested from 18 yards and deflected off the goal past and into the net for a 2-0 lead in the 47th minute.

La Caada’s Armand Bagramyan, a junior forward with 23 goals and 15 assists, was kept in check. He faced a swarm of defenders whenever he took possession. The Spartans’ best chance came in the 46th minute after a free kick. But Garrett Apel’s shot attempt from 40 yards went just wide of the net. In the 76th minute, Bagramyan’s free kick sailed just over the cross bar.

“We knew who to mark,” Mountain View’s Carlos Zarate said. “We used that to defend their tactics. We knew (Bagramyan) was the most dangerous player on the field.”
Zarate and Mariscal proved to be constant threats from the wing, and their deft ball-handling tested Labran-Boyd. The young keeper got help from Joseph Kim, Aidan Tourani and Jonas Dehmel, all of whom helped clear shot attempts.

It was tough for La Caada to push forward without senior midfielder Zaki Khan and freshman forward Juan Carrasquero. Khan was limited to a few set pieces because of lingering ankle injuries and Carrasquero tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in the first 10 minutes of a first-round match. With the Spartans’ experience, size and speed missing, the Vikings pounced by making constant substitutions.

“We gave away the middle of the field all day long,” Harrison said. “(Khan) is good at winning the ball and works for every loose ball. Not only that, he’s 180 pounds. If he can’t get the ball he slows you down with his body. He has size in there that we just don’t have.

“Mentally, they’re nervous. They have 35 guys on their roster and have guy after guy they can put in. It’s tough.”

LA CAADA FLINTRIDGE — In a game of inches, not even the well-placed right foot of Luke Hatanaka could rescue the St. Francis boys’ soccer team Tuesday.

By the time St. Francis and Ventura broke their post-match huddles, neither coach was certain whether Kevin De Los Santos’ header in the 86th minute resulted in the ball crossing the goal line for the winning score.

But despite 12 saves from goalkeeper Luca Coppola and plenty of resilience demonstrated by a short-handed Golden Knights’ lineup, Ventura managed to preserve its unbeaten season with a 2-1 overtime victory in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

“I couldn’t see if it was on the line or not,” Ventura coach Todd Tackett said. “What I do know is that is not your normal 8-8-8 team. Glen (Appels) always does a great job of preparing his team well this time of year. We knew we’d be in for a fight.”

After Erick Sandoval scored the tying goal in the 73rd minute by redirecting a 20-yard free kick from Joe Hernandez inside the right post, the battle extended to a 10-minute sudden-death period.

Although Billy Abdallah made a sliding tackle to save a shot by Juan Leon in the 83rd minute, St. Francis couldn’t escape Ventura’s next throw-in unscathed.

De Los Santos elevated in the middle of the penalty area and headed a shot over Coppola’s head, but Hatanaka was waiting on the goal line to clear the ball. Unfortunately for the St. Francis junior defender, his effort was for naught as the center official signaled Ventura had scored the winning goal.

“I looked at the (sideline referee) and he had his flag down and was running back toward midfield, so I thought that indicated it wasn’t a goal,” Golden Knights coach Glen Appels said. “That’s a tough call to make at that point. It has to be really decisive when you’re in sudden-death overtime. I think our guys were looking at it through brown-and-gold-colored glasses, but in that situation the entire the ball needs to be across the entire line.”

Despite surrendering a goal in the fifth minute to Matt Laterza, Ventura (22-0-6) managed to earn a measure of revenge following a 2-0 setback to St. Francis (8-9-8) in the second round last season.

“The word on our white board was ‘redemption,’” Tackett said. “I thought they defended really well. We struggled to get our offense going against them, but in golden goal, anything can happen. It was nice to get that last one in. At halftime, I told them to ‘make this game a memory for yourself.’ They believe they can do it and they continue to find a way.”

With St. Francis playing the majority of the second half and overtime without injured midfielders Reed Izumi and Eric Bocanegra — who assisted on Laterza’s goal — along with Austin Frank and Laterza both playing through nagging injuries, a lack of depth became a factor for the Golden Knights.

Still, Laterza had a shot carom off the crossbar early in the second half and Ventura goalkeeper Eric Kam came up with a point-blank stop on a breakaway attempt by Frank in the 66th minute, denying St. Francis a two-goal advantage.

“If Matt’s shot were two inches lower, we’d be talking about our game Thursday,” Appels said. “I told them at halftime that we can’t just hope to sit back and defend for 40 minutes and that’s why the chances we had to go up 2-0 and didn’t convert cost us. But we did everything we could with what we had, relying on our freshmen to play against their seniors. Our guys fought to the last second and to the last inch, literally to the last inch. But they’re not undefeated for no reason.”

The consensus around the West San Gabriel Valley is Bowdien Derby of La Salle High School is the area’s best returning pitcher.

He proved himself last year with an outstanding season and nearly led the Lancers to an upset win over Palm Desert in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.

Derby will lead a Lancers team primed for a run in the Del Rey League this season.

The proof was there last year when La Salle took powerhouse Bishop Amat to extra innings in the first league game with Derby on the mound.

With more depth in the rotation and helped by transfers, it’s no wonder the Lancers look poised. It’s also what makes them the Star-News’ preseason No. 1 team.

1. La Salle (18-11)

It starts with Derby, who is a two-time Star-News All-Area selection and was nothing short of spectacular as a junior, particularly in the season finale against Palm Desert.

He was clocked at 91 mph in front of pro and college scouts and his performance was so impressive it had Dodgers legend Steve Garvey on the phone with his former team to ask them to take a closer look at a star in the making.

What makes Derby an even more valuable asset is his versatility. He went 10-1 last year in 15 appearances that included seven complete games and five shutouts. He compiled 101 strikeouts and a 0.94 ERA.

He’s also arguably the area’s best shortstop. He batted .435 with three home runs, 19 RBIs and 12 doubles and earned first-team All-CIF-SS honors. Derby should have a strong supporting cast this season.

Chris Williams is a returning starting senior center fielder who earned second-team All-Area honors as a junior after batting .364 with 31 RBIs and six home runs.

La Salle took some lumps without pitching depth, but look for Austin Wallis to change that. He recorded one win and three saves in 12 appearances with a 2.10 ERA.

He primarily was a closer last year and is vying for the No. 2 spot.

La Salle has three top transfers in juniors Antonio Ruiz (El Monte), Jonathan Krieg (Loyola) and David Sanchez (Cathedral). Ruiz will help in the infield and battle Wallis for the second starting spot in the rotation. Krieg will be an outfielder and Sanchez will be a catcher.

“I’m very confident in the group we are fielding,” La Salle coach Harry Agajanian said. “We’re going to give teams a good run this year. We have a strong preseason schedule that will help us prepare for league.”

Rarely do you see a blockbuster game to start the season, but that’s what the Lancers have on hand next week when they play Temple City in the Elks Tournament opener.

We will post results immediately on the new Prep Scores Results Blog as soon as coaches or representatives from teams call them in. If you look at the Star-News prep sports page, you’ll see the blog in the top right corner which will be updated throughout the evening as soon as results are called in or emailed to us. You can call in results to 626-962-8811, ext. 2233, 2242 or email results to scores@sgvn.com.

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